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New rail station planned for Ashton Gate stadium

Dave Harvey
Business Correspondent, Points West
Sarah Turnnidge
BBC News, Bristol
PA Media A long-range shot of Ashton Gate stadium, pictured from the upper right hand corner of one of the stands. A football pitch is set up in the middle, and the word 'Bristol' is spelt out in white seats amid blocks of red seats. PA Media
Ashton Gate may get its own train station, decades after the original one was shut

A new rail station will finally be built at Ashton Gate, home to Bristol City FC and the Bristol Bears, the regional mayor has said.

New stops may also be opened at St Anne's and Saltford, West of England Combined Authority (Weca) mayor Dan Norris said on Tuesday after Monday's announcement that the Bristol to Portishead line will be reopened.

Speaking to the BBC, he described plans to bring the line back into use as "really exciting".

Construction on the line will start this summer, 60 years after it was closed, thanks to a funding agreement.

The original train station was opened at Ashton Gate in 1867, but closed in 1977.

New stations are to be built at Portishead and Pill, with trains running into Bristol Temple Meads.

"Interestingly we're also working to have new stations at places like Ashton Gate, Saltford and at St Anne's," said Mr Norris.

St Anne's and Saltford stations would be on the line from Bristol to London.

Part of an old train track can be seen poking through long yellowed grass. A couple of houses with solar panels on the roof can be seen in the distance.
It was announced on Monday that construction on the line would begin this summer

North Somerset Council leaders previously approved measures to start work, but council leader Mike Bell said in January that the project was up to £50m short.

However Mr Norris confirmed on Monday that the final funding had been agreed, adding on Tuesday: "It's because we have money that we've not yet spent in other projects and we need to spend it to make sure this important railway line for our region gets done at last."

Railway line will return from Portishead to Bristol in 2027

Less than a month after being elected last year, North Somerset Labour MP Sadik Al-Hassan found out his party could be cutting the constituency's popular railway reopening project when he read it in the Sunday Times, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

But speaking on Monday Mr Al-Hassan said he was "relieved" that after "25 years of relentless campaigning" the line can be reopened.

"Since being elected to Westminster last July, this project has been my top priority with my first act in Parliament being the presentation of a public petition signed by thousands of North Somerset residents saving the project from cancellation," he added.

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